I have always wanted a big front porch. You know, the kind that wraps around the front of your house. The kind that’s covered with a roof and has several little seating areas so you can sit, in any kind of weather, and watch the world go by…while sipping a sweet tea. The kind that you can go crazy decorating for the different seasons and holidays. Yeah, I’ve always wanted one just like that…sigh.
Unfortunately, we’ve never come close to owning a home with a porch like that (and we’ve lived in 10 homes in the past 30 years). Every time we’ve had to search for a home, a big front porch has always been high on my wish list, but it’s always been a “want” and not a “need”. If you’ve bought a house then you know that the “needs” always win out, so it’s just never worked that way for us.
This time around, we’ve moved into a house that has more of a front stoop than a front porch. No roof, crumbling concrete, a rusty, chippy railing and just enough room for 2 to stand on it. It’s not my dream but it serves it’s purpose. The only time it really bothers me is when I decorate for fall or Christmas, but I know that there are more important things to worry about in life so I try to make do with what I’ve got…a small stoop.
So, all of that to tell you that I’m sharing my fall front porch today and that I’m part of the Home for Fall blog hop so, after your done here, you can visit all of the other talented bloggers to see what kind of fall projects they’re sharing.
I’m not able to have a chair or bench on the porch, so I put a rickety, chippy chair in the flowerbed, threw a wool blanket on it and now it’s a pumpkin holder.
The purple fountain grass is still hanging around from summer. It didn’t do very well this year. Actually, none of my plants did well this summer. Too cold for too long, I think.
I brought my vintage olive bucket, that I found at the flea market, around from the back deck and put one of the mums in it. I love its rusty patina.
This year I mixed a few real pumpkins with some faux and it’s really hard to tell the difference. I also used my trick of smearing vaseline on the real ones to keep the squirrels from eating them (I did a post on it way back in 2013). I’ve done this for the last 3 seasons and it’s worked like a charm (the trick is to keep a good, thick coat on it).
Well, I think we’ve explored every possible angle of my fall front stoop. What have I learned from having a small porch? I’ve come to realize that a rickety old chair, put in the flowerbed, can work as a pumpkin holder…that vaseline on a pumpkin will keep away the squirrels…that a vintage, rusty olive bucket makes me happy…and that having a small front stoop isn’t so bad. 😉
Update: My fall porch was featured on Huffington Post! You can check it out here.